// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Frank Seaver? A seaver-ely good baseball player?
Frank Seaver | |
|---|---|
 Seaver and his wife, Blanche, in the 1950s | |
| Born | Frank Roger Seaver April 12, 1883 San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1964 (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Pomona College |
| Occupations | Businessman Oil executive Philanthropist |
| Years active | 1919–1964 |
Frank Roger Seaver (April 12, 1883 – October 30, 1964) was an American lawyer, Naval officer, oil executive, and philanthropist.
Early life
[edit]Frank Seaver was born April 12, 1883, in San Jose, California.[1] He grew up in Claremont, California, graduating from Pomona College in 1905,[2] where he managed the football team and served as the first president of the Associated Students of Pomona College.[3] He later attended Harvard Law School[4] and practiced law in Los Angeles, and helped draft the first charter of Los Angeles County.[2] He served in the Navy during World War I and helped establish the California Naval Militia.[2]
Career
[edit]Seaver met Edward L. Doheny on a weekend yachting trip in 1919, who hired him to work for his oil enterprise.[2] He became General Counsel and Managing General Agent for Doheny's operations in Mexico from 1921 to 1927, and convinced the Mexican government to hire him for an ambitious road paving project.[2] He bought the Doheny-Stone Drill Company from Doheny in 1928.
In 1933, Seaver later renamed the drill company, the Hydril Company, a producer of oil drilling equipment.[2] The company's hydraulic blowout preventer was so durable that the elder Seaver later elected to lease it to customers, rather than sell it to them outright.[5]
Seaver ran the company until his death on October 30, 1964, in [1] The Hydril Company was later headed by his nephew, Richard C. Seaver.[5][6]
Philanthropy
[edit]Seaver and his wife, Blanche, were a major contributor to Pomona College,[5][7] where they served as trustees, and where the Seaver Science Center is named after him and several other buildings are named after his family.[8][9] They were also the principal benefactors of the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University, which named its College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences after him,[10][11] and donated portions of their $10.1 million estate (equivalent to $105 million in 2025) to other institutions.[12][13]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Seaver (Blanche Ebert and Frank R.) Papers". www.oac.cdlib.org. Online Archive of California. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Marshall, Colonel Norman S. "Californians and the Military: Frank Roger Seaver: A Hero's Life". California Center for Military History. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ↑ "1904". Pomona College Timeline. Pomona College. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ↑ Seaver, Randall J. (22 March 2017). "Seavers in the News - Frank R. Seaver Leaves a Legacy". Genea-Musings. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- 1 2 3 Blackstock, Joe (18 July 2011). "Missed Flight Helped College Take Off". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ↑ Nelson, Valerie J. (14 June 2007). "Richard C. Seaver, 85; Oil-drilling Exec, Donor to L.A. Opera". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ↑ Who's who in the Pacific Southwest: a compilation of authentic biographical sketches of citizens of Southern California and Arizona. Los Angeles, California: Times-Mirror Print. & Binding House. 1913. p. 332.
- ↑ "Campus Facilities - Pomona College Catalog". Pomona College. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ↑ Lyon, E. Wilson (1977). The History of Pomona College, 1887-1969. The Castle Press.
- ↑ Oliver, Myrna (13 April 1994). "Blanche E. Seaver, Major Donor to Colleges, Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ↑ "Blanche E. Seaver, Philanthropist, 102". The New York Times. Associated Press. 14 April 1994. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ↑ Dolezal, Cormac (5 December 2018). "A look through the history of Seaver". Los Angeles Loyolan. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ↑ "School to Benefit from Estate". Pasadena Star-News. 14 December 1964. p. 24.